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Windows Media Center won't open...

Anonymous
2010-01-21T19:35:59+00:00

Let me start by saying that I am not very familiar with Vista (my computer runs XP and always will). We're trying to hook my husband's computer up to the xb360 to stream movies to the TV. He has Vista Home Premium installed, and we have a link on the start menu for WMC. However, you click on it and nothing happens. We've tried rebooting, we've tried updating, anything that I could see suggested for similar problems. I tried going into the management console, but it crashes with unknown errors (asks me to debug) every time I try to launch it. I can't figure out how to uninstall and reinstall WMC, if that is even possible. Reinstalling Vista is NOT an option and he lost the disk, so anything needing that is not possible.  I'm at a stonewall right now and I could use some guidance. Thanks!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2010-01-22T19:28:16+00:00

Hi Adinrob,

a)    Was it working fine before? What changes were made to the system between the time everything last worked and when you noticed the problem? 

b)    What is the exact error message you receive?

I would suggest you to try the following steps:

Step 1:Click on the start button > type in windows media centre in the search box > Right click on windows media centre(populated under programs) >Select “run as administrator”

Are you able to open windows media centre now?

**Step 2:**The system file checker (SFC) utility allows administrators to perform a scan of all protected resources to verify that they are the correct version. If SFC should find any incorrect versions in any of these protected resources, SFC will replace them with the correct versions.

You can always run a SFC scan on the windows vista computer. To run a SFC scan follow the steps below:

a)    Click on start and in the start search bar type cmd, right click on the command prompt icon in the programs area and then click on run as administrator.

b)    At the command prompt type sfc /scannow and then press enter.

**Step 3:**Re-register files related to windows media centre, to do this, follow the steps below.

a)    Click on start and in the start search bar type cmd, right click on the command prompt icon in the programs area and then click on run as administrator.

b)     At the command prompt    Type regsvr32 jscript.dll and then press enter

Type regsvr32 vbscript.dll and then press enter

Restart the computer and check if the issue is resolved.

You may want to know:

Using XBOX as an extender:http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-media-center/learn-more/extenders/help/extenders-xbox-faq.aspx

Demo: Setting up an Xbox 360 as an Extender for****Windows Media Centerhttp://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Demo-Setting-up-an-Xbox-360-as-an-Extender-for-Windows-Media-Center

Set up a Windows****Media Center Extender devicehttp://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Set-up-a-Windows-Media-Center-Extender-device

Thanks and Regards:

Ajay K

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-02-17T18:00:28+00:00

    Hi Adinrob,

    Apologies for the delay in response, I would suggest you to rebuild the media centre data store and check.

    a)    Do the movies work fine on windows media centre without connecting it to XBOX?

    b)    What is the file type of the movies you are trying to play?

    Rebuild the Media Center data store. To do this, follow these steps:

    1)    Exit any running instance of Windows Media Center.

    2)    Delete the mediaCenterDataStore.db file. By default, this file is in the following location:

    %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome\mediaCenterDataStore.db

    To delete the file, follow these steps:

    a)    Click Start, and then click Run.

    b)    In the Open box, type run ,and then click OK

    c)    If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.

    d)    In the Open box, type %systemdrive%\programdata\microsoft\ehome, and then click OK.

    e)    In the details pane, right-click mediacenterdatastore.db, and then click Delete.

    f)    Click yes to confirm that you want to move the Mediacenterdatastore.db file to the Recycle Bin.

    Let us know if this works

    Thanks and Regards:

    Ajay K

    Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

    Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-04-28T14:01:13+00:00

    I had the same problem (and have had it sporadically with both my netbook and laptop). After following all the steps above, I still cannot get it to open. Help, please!

    I did try to find the mediacenterdatastore but it's not on my computer. I went to Media Player and the files inside the Media Center are there, but they won't 'Open with...' Media Center. This is so frustrating. My Windows Updates ARE up to date. 

    Thanks in advance?

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-03-22T18:17:41+00:00

    Can't speak for the thread starter, Ajay K, but your last suggestion of deleting Mediacenterstore.db turned the trick for me. Thanks so much!

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-01-30T05:28:17+00:00

    We tried all your suggestions. We are not sure when it stopped working (if it ever worked) because it was not a program that we regularly used, had no call to until we tried to stream it to the xbox. So, going to a restore point is moot if we don't know when we need to restore to.

    Step 1: Followed your directions, it popped to allow the program to run, and nothing. It sat there and thought about it for a minute, and then stopped thinking. It doesn't pop an error message, no crash or freeze, nothing happens.

    Step 2: SFC said no problems.

    Step 3: Got an error message "The module "jscript.dll" was loaded but the call to DLLRegisterServer failed with an error code 0x80004005. For more information about this problem, search online using the error code as a search term."

    So.... what now?

    edit: In searching for the error code, I saw the suggestion to use an elevated command prompt. I did your step 3 from the elevated command prompt, got the message "DLLRegisterServer in jscript.dll/vbscript.dll succeeded". Re tried WMC, nada.

    2nd edit: we are a bunch of doobs. Upgraded Vista to SP2, WMC runs just fine. Issue now is with the xBox, says all movie files are either corrupt or need a different codec. Music and pics are fine. Thanks for the help!

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